The actors get better each time around

The great advantage of keeping your main cast together for (presumably) the whole movie series is that they get more comfortable with their characters as the go on. With the Harry Potter movies, it's paid off handsomely. The acting in the fourth (Goblet of Fire) and fifth (this one) movies has been the best of the series.

The thankfully got rid of Chris Columbus as director after the first two clunkers and started to take a few more liberties with the story. Slavishly following the books led to two pretty dull movies, that I could really have done without. Although, it must be said that the directors that came later had the advantage of experienced actors and less effort required for character development.

Looking forward to the remaining movies.

8/10